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No fewer than five business development companies stopped listing First Brands among their credit investments before the spotlight shined on the auto parts supplier over obligations that were not captured in its balance sheet, according to 9fin’s BDC screener data.

The five BDCs are part of twenty funds that held First Brands’ 2027 loans at some point over the past two years. They include Ares Strategic Income Fund, Blue Owl Credit Income Corporation, First Eagle Private Credit Fund, Hancock Park Corporate Income, and OFS Capital Corporation.

Ares Strategic Income Fund and Blue Owl Credit Income Corporation were the first BDCs whose lists of investments did not include First Brands, according to their latest SEC quarterly filings. The Ares-backed fund reported holding $10.8m of the auto parts maker’s first-lien debt due 2027 as of March 2024. By the following quarter, the investment was no longer part of the fund’s portfolio. Ares declined to comment on this story.

The same was true for Blue Owl Credit Income Corporation, which held a $4m position in the same loan. However, when the fund disclosed its credit investments for the following quarter through June 2024, there was no longer any First Brands debt listed among its active holdings.

The remaining funds cut out First Brands’ debt much closer to the company’s dramatic collapse last month. First Eagle Private Credit Fund disclosed credit investments in the company up until the last quarter of 2024. The BDC also declined a request for comment.

Source: 9fin, company filings

Similarly, Hancock Park Corporate Income and OFS Capital Corporation reported no exposure to First Brands in the three months through June 2025, despite having listed the company among their portfolio holdings in the previous quarters. Both firms stopped reporting credit holdings in First Brands between July and September 2025, the same period the company shelved a planned refinancing that was supposed to pay down upcoming 2027 maturities, following requests for a Deloitte-led audit of the company’s earnings.

First Brands filed for bankruptcy in Texas last month to tackle a multi-billion dollar debt stack stemming from off-balance sheet factoring liabilities. The decision has sent the company’s debt down into distressed territory.

Quotes on First Brands’ dollar term loan B due 2027 were indicated at 16.25 cents on 3 October, down from 95.73 a month earlier, according to 9fin. The 83% collapse mirrors the losses potentially faced by BDCs that held their positions but are not part of the ad hoc group supporting the company’s proposed $4.4bn DIP financing.

As of the second quarter of this year, most of the remaining fifteen BDCs that held onto their First Brands investment have yet to fully reflect potential credit default risks, as they kept the marks on the credits above 90%. Further insight into how the fund managers valued their is expected to emerge when they file their third-quarter reports.

Currently, the BDCs with the biggest investments in First Brands include Monroe Capital Income Plus, Great Elm Capital Corp, and FS Specialty Lending Fund.

Blue Owl, Hancock Park, and OFS Capital did not respond to requests for comment.